2021 in Review (Part 1): A Year Unlike Any Other as Live Sports Productions Navigated a Pandemic-Altered World

2021 in Review (Part 1): A Year Unlike Any Other as Live Sports Productions Navigated a Pandemic-Altered World Reports from CFP National Championship, Super Bowl LV, Daytona 500, Final Four, Masters, NFL Draft, and MLB All-Star By SVG Staff

Tuesday, December 28, 2021 - 9:33 am

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After a pandemic-fraught 2020, the live-sports-production industry welcomed 2021 as a return to normalcy. However, new and even greater challenges arose as live sports productions continued to navigate the pandemic throughout 2021. Nonetheless, sports broadcasters, technology vendors, and production-service providers worked together to continue to develop unique new workflows - both onsite and remote - that paved the way for a new era of live-sports broadcasts.

While early 2021 saw near-constant overlap of sports seasons due to schedule changes, the sporting events calendar began to stabilize as the year went on. As a result, sports viewership and ratings began to rise and sports-production teams began to return onsite. Below is part 1 of SVG's overarching look at how the industry continued to innovate in 2021 (CLICK HERE for Part 2). Check out the monumental efforts undertaken by broadcasters to produce live sports events over the past year despite the ongoing pandemic, including the CFP National Championship, Super Bowl LV, Daytona 500, NCAA Men's Final Four, The Masters, NFL Draft, and MLB All-Star below.

College Football Playoff National Championship

January 11 ESPN constructed a 270,000-sq.-ft. compound for the National Championship game in Miami.

As one of ESPN's most important properties, the College Football Playoff (CFP) National Championship Game spurs increased innovation and ingenuity. Such events typically generate intuitive ideas, but the magnitude of the game and the curveball that is COVID-19 intensified efforts in pushing limits. ESPN rolled out one of its biggest efforts for the title game, including a 270,000-sq.-ft. compound, 75 in-game and studio cameras, and heavy reliance on remote workflows.

To support the operation and keep a socially distant area, we've had to come up with a unique plan here in Miami, said John LaChance, director, remote production operations, ESPN. We really transformed into a unique, one-of-a-kind broadcast compound.

Major sports events normally call for a large television compound, but ESPN's setup next to Hard Rock Stadium was something totally different. COVID-19's impact resulted in reduction of more than 150 onsite positions. Even so, 465 credentialed personnel were on hand for the game. With total control of the exterior loading docks, LaChance and his colleagues devised a detailed layout of each team's location within the 270,000-sq.-ft. compound. An essential component to the operation was ensuring that everyone is healthy before they step foot in the area.

This year's national health crisis, LaChance said, required a strategy that features enhanced safety protocols, multiple rounds of testing, health screenings, heightened cleaning and sanitation standards, and ample distribution of PPE.

The compound housed 13 mobile production units and ancillary support vehicles. Game Creek Video had a large presence for the production of the main telecast, College GameDay, and the MegaCast. Live Media Group's Gracie was responsible for SEC Network's live coverage, and a BSI truck handled all RF audio and video elements. In addition, a 15,000-sq.-ft. office facility was adjacent to the compound.

The massive compound provided a lot of firepower, but, to prepare for any production emergency, the team developed a handful of backup plans to keep the linear and surrounding content on-air.

There is complete redundancy for power, transmission, and infrastructure of the broadcast, noted LaChance. We published an eight-page document with all of the backup plans and what-if scenarios that we hope we'll never have to execute, but it's comforting to know that we'll be prepared should the need arise.

A total of 75 cameras and other broadcast gear were deployed to capture every play and sound of the title game. The broadcaster brought back a dual Skycam system (the traditional one close to the field and a hi-sky version) to get a full look at the playing field. When not traversing the field, the AllCam was positioned at an elevated vantage point for isolated shots of players and wider shots of plays. Up in the air, a fixed-wing aircraft and the Goodyear Blimp transmitted aerial views of the venue and the surrounding city.

At field level, ESPN once again leveraged its extensive arsenal near the goal line and first-down line. A total of 28 POV cameras were embedded within the front and rear PylonCam systems. Those in the back-line pylons will have pan, tilt, zoom functionality, which was introduced for last year's Championship Game in New Orleans. There were two styles of Marker Cam - one regular and one c360 with 180 degrees of movement - and two RF line-to-gain cameras on each sideline.

Capping the complement were 26 specialty cameras: 11 Sony HDC-4300's with super-slo-mo capability, 10 robos, three 4K cameras (two Sony HDC-4800's and a Sony HDC- P43), and two RF handhelds on the field.

Bringing the total to 98, 23 cameras covered College GameDay and shows on SEC Network.

Even with the protective measures, this is still a marquee event, said LaChance. The company is going to make sure that we have the appropriate coverage.

On the audio side, more than 100 microphones were dispersed on the field and in the stands to give in-venue noise to fans watching at home. - Kristian Hernandez

CLICK HERE for more of SVG's coverage of the CFP National Championship Game.

Super Bowl LV

February 7 The CBS Sports exterior set at Super Bowl LV

The COVID p

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